Web feeding apparatus



April 16, 1963 A. J. EVERS WEB FEEDING APPARATUS Original Filed June 22,1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. AFN/d? .1 was April 16, 1963 A. J. EVERSWEB FEEDING APPARATUS Original Filed June 22. 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 MawATTOE/VEXS April 16, 1963 A. J. EVERS WEB FEEDING APPARATUS OriginalFiled June 22, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 5

a 0 f o P17! m 1 4 M. R E a nvmvfon AHA/(4? z EVEE'S United StatesPatent 4 Claims. c1. 24.2-57.1

The present invention rel-ates to apparatus for feeding a web ofmaterial and for ensuring accurate lateral location of that web duringits feeding movement.

The feeding of elongated flexible sheets of material, often at highspeed, is a common operation, particularly in the printing and stampingarts. The nature of the operation performed on the traveling web ofmaterial usually requires that the material be accurately laterallylocated as it travels. ing the lateral position of the web as it is fedis the socalled steering roller, a guide over which the web passes whichis adapted to be tilted about a non-axial point in one direction or theother relative to a normal direction at right angles to the direction ofmovement of the web, the tilt thereof reacting upon the web so as tocause the latter to shift sidewise and thus bring itself back to desiredlateral position.

In systems employing a steering roller means are provided for sensingthe lateral position of the Web and for causing the steering roller totilt in such a direction and to such a degree as will tend to restorethe Web to its desired lateral position. In the past these sensing meanshave been located at some distance from the steering roller itself. Thismade for a time lag between the sensing of the mispositioning of the weband the taking of action to correct that misposition-ing which reactedadversely upon the accuracy of the system and which often producedover-controlling and hunting. In addition, the action of the steeringroller in correcting the lateral position of the web was found to berelatively ineffective or excessively slow when large or continuing webmisalign-ments occurred. In some instances the web misalignments arosebecause of misalignments of the web supply, as where the roll from whichthe web was unwound was laterally uneven or tilted.

It is the prime object of the present invention to devise a system andapparatus which will quickly sense departures of the Web from itsdesired lateral position and promptly and accurately restore the web toits proper position. In accordance with the present invention a steeringroller is used to achieve small corrections in the location of the web,large and continuing dislocations of the web being corrected by shiftingthe later-a1 position of the web supply, the entire system beingcoordinated so as to prevent over-control.

In order to improve the accuracy and speed of response of the system thedevice which senses the lateral position of the web is located as closeas possible to the point at which the web leaves the steering roller.Hence once the desired correction has been made, bringing the web backto its normal position, the steering roller is returned to its normalposition. At the same time the mounting of the means which senses theweb position is made independent of the tilting of the steering rollerso that the position of the web is sensed accurately with respect to theoverall apparatus which is adapted to operate upon the web.

To this end a finger is provided which is adapted to engage the side ofthe Web and thus be positioned according to the instantaneous lateralposition of the web, that finger in turn controlling the action of aninstrumentality such as a pressure cylinder which is active upon thesteering roller to tilt it in one direction or the other. The fin- Onewidely used means for adjust- Patented Apr. 16, 1963 ger is locatedquite close to the steering roller by means of an arm articulatelymounted on the frame of the machine so as to be movable only in a planesubstantially perpendicular to the plane in which the steering rollertilts, the mounting of the arm on the frame being independent of themounting of the steering roller on the frame. Hence tilting movement ofthe steering roller affects the lateral position of the web withoutaffecting the sensing action of the finger.

Further means are provided for sensing the degree of tilt of thesteering roller and for bodily laterally shifting the position of theweb supply if the tilt of the steering roller exceeds a predeterminedamount. Hence the steering roller itself provides for small correctionsin the location of the Web, while for larger corrections the web supplyis shifted. In order to prevent over-control should a large lateral webdislocation be only temporary, the web supply shifting system is onlyintermittently energized, and the amount of lateral shifting of the websupply is limited to a predetermined amount for each energized actuationthereof.

To the accomplishment of the above, and to such other objects as mayhereinafter appear, the present invention rel-ates to the apparatus andsystem for guiding a moving web and controlling its lateral position, asdefined in the appended claims, taken together with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is :a side elevational view of the mounting for the steeringroller and associated control and actuating apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are side and front diagrammatic views respectively of thesteering roller and associated elements;

FIG. 5 is a combination schematic and block diagram illustrating theoverall system, including the means for laterally shifting the websupply; and

FIG. 6 is a wiring diagram for the system controlling the lateralshifting of the web supply.

Having reference first to FIG. 5, the web, generally designated 2, andwhich may take the form of an elongated sheet of fabric, paper, rubberor flexible metal, is supplied in a conventional form such as the largeroll 4. It is led from the supply roll 4 over a steering rollergenerally designated 6 and then over a driving roller 8 which is drivenby drive motor 10. The web will, of course, ordinarily travel a muchmore circuitous path than is shown in FIG. 5, that figure merelyillustrating the essential elements of the web guiding and feedingsystem insofar as they apply to the present invention. The supply roll 4may be rotatably mounted on rod 12 the underside of which may beprovided with a rack engaged by gear 14 driven by shift motor 16 inorder to laterally shift the position of the web supply 4.

The mounting and functioning of the steering roller 6 is shown in FIGS.1-4. The machine comprises a frame 18 having a pair of brackets 20*extending out therefrom, those brackets carrying at their extremities apair of guides 22 defining therebetween a channel 24 in which the endsof shaft 26 are received'for vertical slidable movement, said shaft endsbeing provided with flats 28 for that purpose. The shaft 26 does notrotate, and is provided with a central depending extension 30 which ispivotally mounted on pin 32 extending from the rear plate 34 of theapparatus. The steering roller 6 is defined by a pair of roller elements36 rotatably mounted on the shaft 26 to either side of the extension 30by means of bearings 38. i

A pressure cylinder 40 is mounted on bracket 42 secured to one of thebrackets 20. Piston 43 is slidable in cylinder 40, and piston rod 44 isconnected thereto, extends from the cylinder 40, and is connected, bymeans of clevis 46, pin 48 and adjustable length connecting rod 50, toone end of the shaft 26, as by means of the pin 52 which passes throughthe lower end of the connecting link 50 and into the end of the shaft26. Movement of the piston in the cylinder 40 upward or downward inaccordance with the application of overriding pressure to one side orthe other thereof within the cylinder 40 will, it will be apparent,cause the steering roller 6 to tilt in one direction or the other aboutthe axis of the pin 32 depending upon the direction of movement of thepiston. Since the pin 32 about which the roller 6 tilts is displacedfrom the axis of the shaft 26, such tilting of the roller 6 will causethe web 2 passing thereover to shift its lateral position in well knownmanner.

A rod 54 extends between the brackets 20 at a point rearwardly spacedfrom, and above, the steering roller 6, and an arm 56 is pivotallymounted thereon adjacent one of the frame pieces 18. This arm carries atits end a rotatably mounted wheel 53 which is adapted to engage and restupon the upper surface of one of the steering roller elements 36. Whilethe weight of the arm will normally ensure engagement between the wheel58 and roller section 36, a biasing spring 59 may be provided to furtherensure this engagement, that spring being compression-active between thearm 56 and a bracket 60 secured to the rod 54. It will be appreciatedthat, because of its manner of mounting, the arm 56 can pivot only in aplane perpendicular to the rod 54.

The arm 56 carries a valve 62 having an inlet port 64, an exhaust port66 and two additional ports 68 and 70. The inlet port 64 is connected bymeans of a flexible conduit 72 with a suitable source of fluid underpressure, and the ports 68 and 70 are connected respectively by flexibleconduits 74 and 76 to the inlet ports 78 and 80 respectively at the topand bottom of the pressure cylinder 40. The valve is actuated by a shaft82 extending out therefrom in a forward direction, and finger 84 isfixed to the shaft and extends down therefrom. A tension spring 86 isactive between the finger 84 and a pin 88 and tends to cause the finger84, and with it the shaft 82, to rotate in a counter-clockwise directionas viewed in FIG. 2. The finger 84 is so located as to be urged by thespring 86 into engagement with the edge of the web 2 very closely afterthat web leaves the steering roller 6 in the course of its feedingtravel. As shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5, the web 2 initially engages thesteering roller 6 at its lower surface and leaves it at its uppersurface, the wheel 58 actually rolling over the web 2 itself (see FIG.4), the web 2 then passing over guide roller 90.

L-shaped lever arms 92 are pivotally mounted on the brackets 20 at 94,one at each side of the apparatus. Springs 96 tensioned between pins 98and horizontal portions of the arms 92 tend to cause those arms 92 topivot in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1, the movement of thearms in that direction being limited by engagement between screws 100 onthe vertical portions of the arms 92 and stops 102 on the brackets 20.The screws 100 are threadedly adjustable in the arms 92 so as to permitadjustment of the pivoted position of the arms 92. Each of the arms 92carry at its extremity a normally open microswitch 104 or 104a, theactuating element of which is normally spaced from the shaft portion 26which it overlies but which is adapted to be engaged by that shaftportion, thereby to actuate the microswitch to close the circuittherethrough, when the steering roller 6 is sufliciently tilted in anappropriate direction.

The circuit diagram of FIG. 6 illustrates the manner in which themicroswitches 104 and 104:: are utilized to control the lateral shiftingof the web supply 4. The web supply shift motor 16 is reversible and isprovided with a pair of relays 106 and 106:: for causing it to rotate inone direction or the other. The main drive motor of the apparatusrotates, through appropriate gearing, a timing cam 108 which is activeto close a normally open microswitch 110, the cam 108 being providedwith a depressed area 112 of restricted length which, when it comes intooperative engagement with the switch 110, permits that switch to open.The total length of the cam 108 corresponds to a predetermined limiteddegree of feed of the web 2 which may for example, be fourteen feet oftravel, corresponding to the web distance between the web supply 4 andthe steering roller 6. One end of the microswitch is connected toelectrical supply line 114, and its other end is connected to lead 116which connects with normally open microswitch 104a via lead 118 and withnormally open microswitch 104 via leads 154 and 192. The other end ofmicroswitch 104a is connected by lead 120 to relay winding 122, thecircuit through the relay winding being completed by means of leads 124and 126, contacts 128 and 130 of the manual control unit generallydesignated 132, lead 134, contacts 136 and 138 of the manual controlunit generally designated 140, and lead 142 to the other supply lead144.

The relay winding 122, when energized, as it will be only when bothmicroswitches 110 and 104a are closed, closes normally open contacts146, 148 and 150 and opens normally closed contacts 152. Contacts 146,when closed, produce a holding circuit for the relay winding 132independent of the actuation of microswitch 104a, that holding circuitextending from lead 116 through leads 154 and 156, the contacts 146, andlead 158 to the right hand end of the relay winding 122. Closing of thecontacts 150 establishes a circuit from leads 116, 154, and 156 throughlead 160 and through the normally closed contacts 162 of time delayrelay 164 to lead 166, which in turn connects to the contacts 148 ofrelay 122. (It also connects to contacts 152, via lead 192, but thecontacts 152 have been opened by the energization of relay 122.) Sincethe contacts 148 are closed when the relay 122 is energized, a circuitwill be completed through lead 168, the contacts 17 0 and 172 of manualcontrol unit 150 and lead 174 to shift motor reverse relay 106a, andthen via lead 176 to supply line 144. Hence the shift motor reverserelay will be energized, causing the shift motor 16 to operate in agiven direction, for so long as the contacts 162 remain closed.

Energization of lead 160 through closing of the contacts 150 will alsoenergize the coil of time delay relay 164, the circuit therethroughbeing completed by leads 178 and 180 to lead 126 and then to supply line144. The opening of the contacts 162 through energization of the relay164 Will be delayed for a predetermined period of time aftercnergization thereof sufficient to permit the shift motor 16 to producea predetermined amount of lateral shift of the web supply 4, forexample, & of an inch. Once the relay 164 opens the contacts 162 theshift motor reverse relay 106a will be de-energized and the motor 16will stop.

Energization of lead 160 through the closing of relay 159 will alsoenergize the winding of relay 182 via leads 184, 186 and 180. This willcause contacts 188 to close, but with relay 122 energized they will haveno effect, since a closed circuit will be established from lead 156through contacts 150, lead 160, contacts 188 and lead 190 back to lead156.

If it is the microswitch 104 rather than the microswitch 104a which isclosed during the time that the microswitch 110 is also closed, as willbe the case if the steering roller 6 is tilted in the oppositedirection, the closing of the microswitch 110 will connect supply line114 to one side of the microswitch 104 via leads 116, 154 and 192. Theother end of the microswitch 104 will be connected by lead 194 toenergize the relays 164 and 182, the circuits through those relays beingcompleted by leads 178 and 186 respectively and then through leads 189,126, 134 and 142 to the other supply line 144. The cnergization of relay182 closes contacts 188, which establishes a holding circuit for relay182 independently of microswitch 104 via leads 116, 154, 190 and 184 tothe relay winding 182. Current will also pass through 7 the contacts 188and through the closed contacts 162 to lead 166 and from there, via lead192 through the normally closed contacts 152 of unenergized relay 122,along lead 194, and through contacts '196 and 198 of manual control 132to leads 200 and 202, the latter connecting with shift motor forwardrelay 106, the other end of which is connected via lead 204 to supplyline 144. Thus, for as long as the contacts 162 remain closed, which isdetermined by the time constants of the relay 164, the shift motorforward relay 106 will be energized and the shift motor 16 will beoperated in an appropriate direction to laterally shift the position ofthe web supply 4 by the same predetermined amount of, for example, of aninch.

The holding circuits completed by the contacts 146 and 188 for therelays 122 and 182 respectively when the microswitches 104a and 104respectively are energized permit the timed energization of the shiftmotor relays 106a and 106 respectively even upon momentary closing ofthe appropriate microswitch 104a, 104.

All of these results Wiil take place only during such time as the raisedarea of the timing cam 108 is operatively engaged with the microswitch110. T he depressed area 112 of the timing cam 108 will periodicallypermit the microswitch 110 to open, thus resetting the control systemafter the relay 164 has opened the contacts 162.

The manual control units 132 and 140 are provided for manual control ofthe operation of the shift motor 16 when that is desired. If the controlunit 140 is actuated circuits are broken between the contact pairs 136,138 and 170, 172, thus preventing automatic actuation of the shift motorreverse relay 106a, and at the same time relay 106a is actuated via lead206a, contacts 208a and 210a and leads 212a and 174. Similarly manualactuation of control unit 132 opens the circuit between contact pairs128, 130 and 196, 198 and energizes the shift motor forward relay 106via lead 206, contacts 208 and 210, and leads 212 and 202.

It will be noted that by reason of the manner in which the arm 56 ismounted, the finger 84 which senses the lateral position of the web 2engages that web immediately as it leaves the steering roller 6.Consequently any deviation of the web 2 from its desired position willbe immediately sensed by the finger 85, the finger rotating relative tothe valve 62 and thereby controlling the application of pressure to theupper or lower faces of the piston in the pressure cylinder 40 to causethe steering roller 6 to tilt in a direction appropriate to correct thedeviation in the lateral position of the web 27 Moreover, as the rollertilts the lateral position of the finger 84 will not be affected. Thefinger 84 will rise or fall depending upon whether the end of thesteering roller 36 engaged by the wheel 48 rises or falls, but since thearm 56 can move only in a vertical plane perpendicular to the rod 56 thesensing accuracy of the finger 84 will be unaffected.

As the web 2 is fed the control system of FIG. 6 will be periodicallyenergized through the closing of the microswitch 110. If neither of themicroswitches 104 and 104a is closed during those periods ofenergization, that is to say, if at that time the steering roller 6 isnot tilted sufiiciently to engage and actuate the appropriatemicroswitch 104 or 104a, then nothing will happen. If the microswitch104a is closed during the time that the microswitch 110 is closed, thenthe shift motor reverse relay 106a will be energized and the shift motor16 will rotate in such a direction, and for such a maximum period oftime, controlled by the time delay relay 164 and its contacts 162, as toproduce a maximum lateral shift of the web supply 4 of a predeterminedsmall amount (such as of an inch) in an attempt to correct the lateralmispositioning of the web 2 which the steering roller has not been ableto correct. The microswitch 110 will then open, de-energizing thecontrol circuit in FIG. 6, and resetting the relays, including the relay164,

so that if the movement of lateral shift of the supply roll 4 isinsufficient properly to position the web, another increment of shiftwill be brought about. Thus, if the web 2 has been properly laterallypositioned, the finger 84 will sense that and restore the steeringroller 6 to its normal horizontal position, both microswitches 104 and104a will be unactuated, and the control circuit of FIG. 6 will have noeffect. On the other hand, if the lateral shift of the web supply 4 hasnot corrected the situation by the time that the microswitch is againclosed, a further shift of of an inch in the lateral position of the websupply 4 will take place. By limiting each individual lateral shift to apredetermined small amount, and by providing an appropriate time delaybetween possible successive lateral shifts of the web supply 4, theinherent time lag between cause and effect is compensated andover-control and hunting is effectively prevented. The steering rollerfunctions accurately and quickly to correct for small departures of theweb 2 from proper lateral positioning, while the lateral shifting of theweb supply 4 is largely relied upon to correct for major or continuingdislocations in lateral positioning of the web 2.

While but a single embodiment of the present invention has been heredisclosed, it will be apparent that many variations may be made therein,all within the spirit of the invention as defined in the followingclaims.

This is a division of my prior application Serial No. 822,006, filedJune 22, 1959, entitled Web Feeding Apparatus.

I claim:

1. In a control system for a web feeding apparatus comprising means formounting a supply of web to be fed, means for shifting the position ofsaid web supply, a tiltable web steering member over which said web isadapted to pass, means for tilting said web steering member inaccordance with the departure of said web from a predetermined positionrelative to said member, and control means for said shifting meanscomprising means for sensing the tilt of said member beyond apredetermined degree and effective to actuate said shifting means inaccordance therewith; the improvement which comprises said control meansincluding first timing means for de-actuating said shifting means aftera predetermined amount of shift has been accomplished, and second timingmeans actuated in synchronism with the feed of said web, normallyenergizing said control means, and intermittently, and for a period oftime which is a minor fraction of the time of normal energization ofsaid control means, de-energizing and resetting said control means,including said first timing means.

2. In a control system for a web feeding apparatus comprising means formounting a supply of web to be fed, means for shifting the position ofsaid web supply, a til-table web steering member over which said web isadapted to pass, means for tilting said web steering member inaccordance with the departure of said web from a predetermined positionrelative to said member, and control means for said shifting meanscomprising means for sensing the tilt of said member beyond apredetermined degree and effective to actuate said shifting means inaccordance therewith; the improvement which comprises said control meansincluding first timing means for deactuating said shifting means after apredetermined amount of shift has been accomplished, and second timingmeans actuated in synchronism with the feed of said web, normallyenergizing said control means, and intermittently, and for a period oftime which is a minor fraction of the time of normal energization ofsaid control means, de-energizing and resetting said control means,including said first timing means, said first timing means beingactuated when said shifting means is actuated, and,

after timing out and deactuating said shifting means, remaining actuateduntil de-energized by said second timing means.

3. In a control system for a web feeding apparatus comprising means formounting a supply of web to be fed, means for shifting the position ofsaid web supply, a tiltable web steering member over which said Web isadapted to pass, means for tilting said web steering member inaccordance with the departure of said web from a predetermined positionrelative to said member, and control means for said shifting meanscomprising means for sensing the tilt of said member beyond apredetermined degree and effective to actuate said shifting means inaccordance therewith; the improvement which comprises said control meansincluding first timing means for deactuating said shifting means after apredetermined amount of shift has been accomplished, and second timingmeans actuated in synchronism with the feed of said Web, normallyenergizing said control means, and intermittently, and for a period oftime which is a minor fraction of the time of normal energization ofsaid control means, de-energizing and resetting said control means,including said first timing means, said sensing means being effective toactuate said shifting means and said first timing means at any timeduring the period of normal energization of said control means.

4. In a control system for a web feeding apparatus 2 comprising meansfor mounting a supply of web to be fed, means for shifting the positionof said web supply, a tiltable web steering member over which said webis adapted to pass, means for tilting said web steering member inaccordance with the departure of said web from a predetermined positionrelative to said member, and control means for said shifting meanscomprising means for sensing the tilt of said member beyond apredetermined degree and effective to actuate said shifting means inaccordance therewith; the improvement which comprises said control meansincluding first timing means for deactuating said shifting means after apredetermined amount of shift has been accomplished, and second timingmeans actuated in synchronism with the feed of said web, normallyenergizing said control means, and intermittently, and for a period oftime which is a minor fraction of the time of normal energization ofsaid control means, de-energizing and resetting said control means,including said first timing means, said first timing means beingactuated when said shifting means is actuated, and, after timing out anddeactuating said shifting means, remaining actuated until de-energizedby said second timing means, and said sensing means being elfective toactuate said shifting means and said first timing means at any timeduring the period of normal energization of said control means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,186,906 Hopkins June 13, 1916 2,078,669 King Apr. 27, 1937 2,666,598Robinette Jan. 19, 1954

1. IN A CONTROL SYSTEM FOR A WEB FEEDING APPARATUS COMPRISING MEANS FORMOUNTING A SUPPLY OF WEB TO BE FED, MEANS FOR SHIFTING THE POSITION OFSAID WEB SUPPLY, A TILTABLE WEB STEERING MEMBER OVER WHICH SAID WEB ISADAPTED TO PASS, MEANS FOR TILTING SAID WEB STEERING MEMBER INACCORDANCE WITH THE DEPARTURE OF SAID WEB FROM A PREDETERMINED POSITIONRELATIVE TO SAID MEMBER, AND CONTROL MEANS FOR SAID SHIFTING MEANSCOMPRISING MEANS FOR SENSING THE TILT OF SAID MEMBER BEYOND APREDETERMINED DEGREE AND EFFECTIVE TO ACTUATE SAID SHIFTING MEANS INACCORDANCE THEREWITH; THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES SAID CONTROL MEANSINCLUDING FIRST TIMING MEANS FOR DE-ACTUATING SAID SHIFTING MEANS AFTERA PREDETERMINED AMOUNT OF SHIFT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED, AND SECOND TIMINGMEANS ACTUATED IN SYNCHRONISM WITH THE FEED OF SAID WEB, NORMALLYENERGIZING SAID CONTROL MEANS, AND INTERMITTENTLY, AND FOR A PERIOD OFTIME WHICH IS A MINOR FRACTION OF THE TIME OF NORMAL ENERGIZATION OFSAID CONTROL MEANS, DE-ENERGIZING AND RESETTING SAID CONTROL MEANS,INCLUDING SAID FIRST TIMING MEANS.